Mangoes have a tough outer skin or peel that must be removed before one may enjoy this sweet fruit. In addition, mangoes have a hard and inedible inner pit, and the edible fruit must be separated from this pit.
Mangoes are usually peeled with a conventional knife, such as by slitting the peel along a plurality of semi-circular arcs to form separate peel sections and then removing each such peel section. Frequently, the fruit is scored laterally around so that it may be split into two halves, with the pit in one half. The edible fruit is scraped away from the pit and from the peel with a knife or spoon. In view of the generally convex outer mango peel surface and the generally convex outer surface of the pit, it has been difficult to separate the fruit from the peel and the pit without sacrificing some of the fruit. Moreover, mangoes are particularly juicy, and the edible flesh is particularly slippery to handle. With prior peeling utensils some of the juice is wasted as the fruit is peeled. Hand utensils directed specifically to overcoming such problems associated with peeling mangoes have not been available.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,969 B1 shows a peeler for fruits and vegetables that includes a U-shaped peeling blade and a feeder that grips the fruit and urges the fruit past the U-shaped peeling blade. The feeder has a pair of gear wheels mounted for rotation, and may have other complex moving parts. The peeler apparatus is indicated as most suitable for peeling melons, but also may be used to peel eggplants, papayas and mangoes.
U.S. Pat. No. 791,815 shows a fruit pitter and parer with a rounded scoop having a diamond-point piercing tool at its distal end. The rounded scoop is attached at its proximal end to a handle. This hand utensil is suggested for use for pitting and paring peaches and apples.
U.S. Pat. No. 908,894 describes a tomato knife with a blade portion that has a curved spoon shape terminating at the distal end into a sharp V-shaped point.
U.S. Patent No. Des. 205,539 shows a spoon with a series of oval slots oriented in two columns, each with four rows, formed in the bowl portion of the spoon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,197 discloses a hand utensil that may be used to peel citrus fruit, such as oranges. The tool has a blade-like member having a pair of parallel, spaced rod-shaped arms converging together at the outer curved tip 8 at the distal end. A curved cutting element 10 is formed in a transversely extending strip fixed between the parallel spaced arms, and is used to score the fruit peel. Once the peel is scored, the outer curved tip 8 can be inserted under the peel and used to separate the peel from the fruit. A blade 20 is also provided to scrape the citrus fruit after the peel has been removed.
There is a need for a lower cost, convenient and efficient hand utensil specifically useful for peeling mangoes.